Table games are a very popular form of wagering games. These games are referred to as table games because they are presented at a gaming table rather than at a gaming machine. These games include, but are not limited to, blackjack, poker, baccarat and other types of card games, as well as roulette, craps and other types of games. Despite the many existing games, game players continue to seek new and different games and devices for presenting those games.
Two well-known games are the games of Texas Hold'em and Ultimate Texas Hold'em. Each game is a community card style poker game. Each player and the dealer are dealt two initial cards (the hole or pocket cards) which they combine with a total of five community cards (dealt as a set of 3 cards and then two individual cards) in order to form a best five card hand.
In the game of Texas Hold'em, the players play against one another for the pot. At the beginning of the game, the two players to the left of the dealer put out blind bets (a big blind and a small blind bet). After each player's two card are dealt, players to the left of the big blind bet have an option to call, raise or fold that bet. The community cards are then dealt, with rounds of betting permitted after each round of card dealing, thus providing three additional rounds of betting.
In the game of Ultimate Texas Hold'em, the players play against the dealer. Each player starts the game by placing a mandatory blind bet and an ante. After each round of card dealing, a further wagering option is provided relative to the placement of an additional wager, wherein a player must place an additional wager beyond their initial blind bet and ante after one of the rounds in order to not fold, and wherein the maximum amount of the additional wager decreases after each round of cards are dealt.
While these games offer multiple betting opportunities which increase the excitement of the game, the games are complex in that the outcome of each player's hand is dependent upon their ability to form the highest ranking hand (from their two cards combined with the community cards) from the many standard poker hands. In other words, a player must be very proficient in understanding the poker hands and their rankings and the potential odds of the dealer being able to form a better hand using the community cards, in order to be successful in the game. The games also require four dealing sequences and only offer a player 2 pocket or hole cards from which they may select cards to differentiate their hand from those of the other players or the dealer.
Another known game is the game of High Card Flush. In accordance with this game, each player and the dealer are dealt seven cards. From their seven cards, the dealer and player form their highest flush hand—.e.g. the combination of five cards from those seven cards which have the most cards of the same suit. An advantage to this game is that it is less complex than games like Ultimate Texas Hold'em in that a player's task is simply to pick the grouping of cards which have the most of the same suit. The player does not need to attempt to analyze the myriad of potential other poker hands which might be formed from the cards. On the other hand, this game is not very exciting because it has limited wagering opportunities. For example, in this game, a player places an ante wager to play the game and then either folds or places a raise wager after they are dealt their seven cards. Also, because the player and dealer are dealt separate seven card hands, it is difficult for the player to assess the probability of the dealer having a hand which may outrank the player's hand, removing much of the strategy from the game.
It will thus be appreciated that while players continue to seek new games, the development of a successful game depends on a myriad of intertwined criteria. For example, players desire games which are sufficiently challenging to retain their interest, but yet not too challenging to play or difficult to learn. Players also desire wagering games where the wagers are structured in a way in which they increase the tension and excitement of the game, but yet without the wagers being difficult to understand. In addition, the game must be configured so that it not only offers a reasonable rate of return/chance to win to the player, but in the case of games played again the house, offers the house a reasonable rate of return on the game. If the rate of return on a game to the house is too low, casinos will not offer the game and yet if the rate of return to the player is too low, the player will not play the game. With these and other objectives in mind, the present invention has been developed.